"I hope the public pressure to include Elizabeth May in these debates continues," Rosenthal told reporters.

In a statement Tuesday afternoon, the consortium said the organization of the leaders' debates is "going ahead as planned."

Winnipeg Centre New Democrat candidate Pat Martin supports the court's decision to handle the issue after the election, saying it has already taken up too much attention. Martin said he hopes it's the last he hears from May on the issue.

Party received nearly 1M votes in 2008

The party argued exclusion from the debate relegates it to the fringes, despite garnering nearly 1 million votes. Rosenthal also said the broadcasters have a responsibility to provide equitable coverage and that the broadcast consortium that runs the debates doesn't have clear rules set out about who to include in the debate.

The CRTC enforces equitable coverage during an election campaign, he said. But when considering May's exclusion from the debates, "the totality is extremely inequitable."

Rosenthal argued the CRTC was giving a benefit to the parties the consortium included in the debate, to the detriment of the Green Party. He said he will ask the court to have the CRTC issue clear rules for who is included in the televised debates.

Phil Tunley, a lawyer for the broadcast consortium, said the government and court can't tell the media what to do. Tunley said May created her own urgency by waiting for the election call to plead her case, with the CRTC rule in place since 1995.

Tunley argued a rushed case wouldn't give either side enough time to prepare, or enough time for the judge to consider a case that asked for a complex balance between political party and media rights.

"Getting out a reasonable, thoughtful, considered decision on these complicated matters in hours," isn't possible, Tunley told Judge Marc Nadon.

Green Party spokeswoman Camille Labchuk said the court of public opinion has spoken and voters want May included, pointing to opinion polls that show support for her.

An Angus Reid poll released Tuesday morning showed 62 per cent of Canadians polled want to see the Green Party represented in the debates.

"It's about democracy. It's not about the business interests of broadcast corporations," Labchuk said.

Labchuk says the party will do everything it can to get May into the debates.

The CRTC rules Rosenthal challenged have been in place since 1995, Tunley said.

But May argues the Greens didn't control the timing of their legal challenge.

"Up until March 29, we believed we would be included," she said in a statement released Tuesday afternoon.

"The arguments from the consortium hinged on their convenience and the difficulty of changing a format, and failed to address questions of fundamental importance to democracy."

The House

Canada's end game in Iraq, SyriaMar. 28, 2015 2:01 PM This week on The House, with MPs set to vote next week on the extension and expansion of Canada's mission to fight ISIS, we ask Defence Minister Jason Kenney what our long-term objectives are. We also ask former Liberal Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May for their take.